United States  Biker News

Mongols gang member arrested, released

Mongols MC
BY: Helen Hollyer
Oregon - Two members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club remained in the Lane County Jail, while a third, Creswell resident Matthew Aaron Weiss, 24, had been released on deposit of security by press time on Tuesday, Apr. 29.

Weiss, Turner resident Justin J. "Mooch" DeLoretto, 26, and Eugene resident Nathan A. Cassidy, 22, had been arrested last Thursday after allegedly attempting to run Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent James Packard and Eugene Police Detective Dave Burroughs off the road during an Apr. 24 rush-hour confrontation on Interstate-5.

According to the Lane County Sheriff's Office Web site, each of the trio has been charged with two counts of attempted coercion, two counts of conspiracy to commit coercion, two counts of attempted kidnapping-2, two counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping-2, two counts of restlessly endangering and one count of reckless driving.

During an Apr. 29 telephone interview with The Creswell Chronicle, Burroughs, an expert on outlaw motorcycle gangs, described the Apr. 24 incident, and commented that Weiss is the only Mongols gang member known to be currently living in Creswell.

Burroughs said that Weiss had posted a security deposit of about $64,000, which represented 10 percent of the total bail amount.

The incident began about 4:30 p.m. last Thursday when DeLoretto, president of Oregon's Mongols, driving a Ford Ranger pickup, tailed Packard, a regional expert on outlaw motorcycle gangs, and Burroughs in their unmarked Ford Explorer, from a location near Turner to Salem and then south on I-5, with DeLoretto talking on his cell phone.

By the time the investigators reached the Eugene area, two vehicles flanked them, a Nissan pickup driven by Weiss and an Audi A4 driven by Cassidy. Burroughs radioed for backup.

Burroughs said that Weiss, driving just ahead of the investigators, suddenly swerved into the Explorer's path, forcing Packard to slam on his brakes and steer left to avoid a collision.

When Packard attempted to exit I-5 to drive west on I-105 toward downtown Eugene, Cassidy accelerated and steered his car across two lanes of traffic in front of the investigators' vehicle and braked hard, Burroughs said. Packard slammed on his brakes again, and turned on his emergency lights and siren.

As the investigators drove west on I-105, Weiss and Cassidy continued south on I-5. Eugene Police Department vehicles surrounded DeLoretto's pickup, and officers arrested him in front of the Coburg Road Quiznos'.

Weiss was taken into custody in the parking lot in front of the Creswell Library about 6 p.m. A .38 caliber revolver was found in his pickup and seized, Burroughs said. Cassidy was arrested shortly before 11 p.m. in west Eugene.

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